Stories of Hope

Health workers often must travel miles to isolated villages and hard-to-reach, underserved
rural communities to see patients. USAID has helped expand access to iCCM of malaria,
diarrhea, and pneumonia in 12 countries – reaching 1.6 million children under
the age of 5 in 2010. Programs focus on training and equipping front-line health
workers at the community level to correctly diagnose and treat children with high-impact
treatment interventions such as antibiotics and oral rehydration and zinc. Photo
Source: Atta Ullah, Courtesy of Photoshare

Home health care providers in Senegal are helping its rural communities access basic care. They live in and travel to the most rural villages and can treat malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea, three of Senegal’s most deadly childhood diseases. Home health care providers like, Mbene Dionne shown here, have helped reduce deaths due to malaria by 62.5 percent since 2009. Photo Source: Amy Cotter, USAID

Global action to combat malaria has saved an estimated 1.1 million lives in sub-Saharan
Africa over the past decade. This year alone, an average of 485 children a day are
saved from this lethal disease. Eleven of the President's Malaria Initiative focus
countries have seen reductions in childhood mortality rates, ranging from 16 to
50 percent. The timing of these reductions corresponds to a dramatic scale-up of
malaria prevention and treatment interventions in these countries, suggesting malaria
control played a major role in the mortality reductions. Photo Source: Maggie Hallahan,
WHO

A decade ago, the country's health system was shattered, leading to widespread prevalence
of malnutrition, infectious disease, and high infant and maternal mortality rates.
Today, an Afghan child has a 90 percent chance of living to their 5th birthday. USAID
supports the delivery of essential health services and pharmaceutical supplies to
approximately 10 million people in 13 of the country's 34 provinces. USAID also
trains community health workers so care is available in remote communities. On average,
health care workers serve more than 870,000 clients per month at health facilities.
Photo Source: Emily J. Phillips, Courtesy of Photoshare

For the past year, a group of donors (DFID, AusAID, the Gates Foundation, and USAID)
has worked in partnership to ensure those most hard to reach have access to quality,
affordable reproductive and maternal health supplies. The Alliance for Reproductive,
Maternal, and Newborn Health has worked closely with governments and other partners
to improve access in the 10 focus countries: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia,
Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Together, these countries
account for about 68 percent of unmet need for family planning worldwide, 54 percent
of all maternal deaths, and 56 percent of all neonatal mortality. Photo Source:
Center for Communication Programs, Courtesy of Photoshare

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) Alliance prevented more
than 3 million premature deaths and served a key role in increasing the global vaccination
rate by 10 percentage points. To date, GAVI has funded vaccines against diphtheria,
pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, pneumonia, measles, and yellow fever. GAVI and
its partners are now preparing to finance the introduction of two new vaccines in
the poorest countries. A great power of vaccines is to bring health equality to
all those who receive them. Photo Source: Khaled Sadiq, Courtesy of Photoshare

In the past year and a half, United Nations and academic experts have published
new estimates that indicate global and regional declines in maternal mortality since
1990, with a number of countries on target to achieve Millennium Development Goal
5. There has been a 34 percent decline in global maternal mortality, 53 percent
in Asia, and 26 percent in Africa – the two regions that have often been thought
to be intractable. Key drivers for success include increases in female education
and improvement in coverage in health care interventions, including family planning,
deliveries by a skilled birth attendant, emergency obstetric care for complications,
and antenatal and postpartum care. Photo Source: Arturo Sanabria, Courtesy of Photoshare

In Bangladesh, maternal mortality dropped by 40 percent between 2001 and 2010. Many
factors saved these women's lives. The Government of Bangladesh upgraded district
and subdistrict health facilities. As a result, the use of skilled birth attendants
and availability of comprehensive emergency obstetric care increased. Total fertility
rate declined by 22 percent due to the successful family planning program, reducing
exposure to high-risk pregnancies. Expanded availability and cell phone use improved
communications between families and service providers, especially in the case of
obstetric emergencies. Expanded and improved roads facilitated transport to health
facilities. In addition, more women entering the child-bearing years were educated.
Photo Source: Cassandra Mickish/CCP, Courtesy of Photoshare

Simple, cost-effective devices and training for newborn resuscitation have been
introduced in 30 countries and will be scaled up in at least four countries. More
than 18,400 health providers have been trained so far. The alliance – made
up of Laerdal, NIH, the American Pediatric Association, and USAID – supports
countries in expanding resuscitation services as part of a broader package of essential
newborn care, which includes training and affordable, high-quality resuscitation
equipment. Photo Source: Anil Gulati, Courtesy of Photoshare

Undernutrition during the critical 1,000 days from pregnancy to age 2 can cause
irreversible stunting and mental impairment. Nutrition is at the forefront of two
of the U.S. Administration's top development priorities: the Global Health Initiative
and Feed the Future. Now more than ever, we know what works to improve nutrition
for women and children. We have support from host governments, donors, civil society,
and the private sector through the Scaling Up Nutrition movement. In 2010, USAID-supported
programs provided 29 million infants and children with vitamin A supplementation
in six countries. Photo Source: Lauren Goodsmith, Courtesy of Photoshare